


A Familiar Feeling

by mumblingmaria



Series: From Colliding Worlds [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Almost Kiss, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, long talks, reunited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9306428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumblingmaria/pseuds/mumblingmaria
Summary: The Ghost crew is called to help with the post-war cleaning up. It should have all been simple; seeing familiar faces and easy work. But when the least expected person pops up from Ezra's past, everything is thrown off kilter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a sequel to Two Worlds, that Luke/Ezra fic I wrote a couple months ago. I had a lot of fun writing that one and honestly even more fun writing this one. I have the whole fic finished, the next two chapters are being edited. I plan to post the next two chapters over the course of the month, if my schedule stays nice and easy.
> 
> This is set after ROTJ so there's bound to be tons of canon divergence happening as we get more and more of Rebels, I'm confident of that. C'est la vie. But yes, in this canon divergence we're going to continue to pretend that Luke and Ezra have met once before everything when down in s3 with the whole holocron thing.

Ezra shifted back and forth in his seat. Since finding out which rebel base they were heading to, the young Jedi couldn’t contain his excitement. He was sitting at their checker table, drumming his fingers on it over and over. Zeb groaned next to him.

“Kid, put your fingers away or you’re going to lose them,” the Lasat growled.

Ezra rolled his eyes but stopped anyway. He leaned back on the couch and immediately his leg began to bounce. Zeb growled again reaching over to stop the bouncing leg. 

“What?” Ezra asked, throwing daggers with his eyes. 

“Are you a bomb? You’re about to explode with nerves!” Zeb sat back as he spoke, shaking his head. “I haven’t seen you this strung up in ages.”

“I just want to get to the base, that’s all,” Ezra said, trying to shrug the words off. “I’m restless, I want to walk around.” 

“Sure you are,” a voice said from the doorway. Sabine was leaning against it, her hair (vibrant pink and teal) and colourful armour brightening the room up instantly. Grinning, she continued, “Come on, you’re just excited to see your girlfriend again.”

“Girlfriend… what!” Ezra gaped at her. “I don’t think of Leia that way!”

“But you do think of her a lot,” Zeb stated, elbowing him.

Ezra took his turn to groan. He covered his eyes as they laughed at him. They did this every time they had met up with Leia to help her with whatever mission she had and since it had been over a year since they had seen her, they were ready for the attack. The bright side to all of the was with the rebellion over and won, now he might actually be able to spend some time with her, not worrying about whether one of them would suddenly be killed. Just a quiet reunion. But no, siblings—as Ezra considered the annoying pair—always had to ruin things.

“Guys, you know Leia is just a friend. I don’t think of her that way at all. You do this every time we see her,” Ezra explained.

“That’s because it’s funny every time,” the Lasat said, shoving the younger man’s shoulder. Sabine chuckled as she sat on the couch as well. “We’ll tease you about it for as long as we can laugh at you about it.”

“You’re both the worst.”

They laughed as they felt the ship jostle as it landed. They grinned at each other; Ezra included, and made their way to the cargo bay. Ezra and Zeb shoved each other the entire way there as Sabine brought up the rear, well practiced at avoiding getting in the way of the rambunctious pair. Hera raised an eyebrow when they came tumbling into view and sighed. Ezra grinned at her as Zeb ruffled up his hair. 

“You’d think you both would have grown out of that by now,” Kanan called from behind the Twi’lek.

“You’d think,” muttered Sabine.

“Okay, how about we get off the ship before our years old conflicts rise up,” Hera said, clapping her hands together. “And before you destroy my ship.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the trio said, saluting her. 

She chuckled and led the way out of the Ghost. Kanan waited for Ezra to walk by him and fell into step with his apprentice. The younger man looked over at his master; he wasn’t used to being so close in height with him. It was hard to remember when he had been a foot shorter than the other Jedi. It was getting harder to remember not having Kanan and the rest of the crew in his life. The older man rested his hand on Ezra’s shoulder as they made their way out into the hangar.

“Welcome!” a familiar voice rang out over them. Ezra looked to see Leia beaming at them. He grinned and resisted running over and hugging her. He knew it would be inappropriate but it was a strong urge to fight. Could he be blamed? They had all just survived a galactic war. “It’s good to have you all here.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Hera said, smiling down at the young woman. She then turned her attention to the man at Leia’s side. “And it’s good to see you, too, Han.”

Ezra stopped just behind Hera, his whole body buzzing from excitement. He felt the hand on his shoulder squeeze slightly; he knew Kanan was recommending he calm down. It was fair—they weren’t here for a social visit. There was still cleaning up to do of the remnants of the Empire. They finally had the chance to touch base with the larger Rebellion and help with the rebuilding. Ezra wiped his hands on the side of his pants, throwing a glance to Kanan behind him. 

“Ezra,” Leia said, pulling the young man’s attention forward. He grinned at her, taking a step forward. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Likewise, Your Highness,” he replied. He stood in front of her and realized how much he had grown since meeting her. 

Rolling her eyes, she reached out and took his hand in hers. “You know I asked you to not call me that, we’ve known each other too long for formalities.”

“Yeah, but it’s fun to remember I have a princess for a friend,” he said, chuckling.

“The problem is forgetting that she’s a princess,” Han muttered next to him. 

Throwing a quick glare at the taller man, Leia started to lead the group out of the hangar. She explained how this was a temporary base as the Rebellion wanted to start decommissioning their bases around the galaxy. Ezra wrapped his arm through Leia’s as she spoke. He was glad to be back with the larger Rebellion even if they were trying to scale back their forces. It was good to remember how big their cause got and how far it had reached. 

Then he was hit with a wave a familiarity. He turned abruptly and noticed Kanan had done the same. Both men ignored the questions from the rest of their group. Ezra searched around the hangar, trying to locate what was tugging at him. The only thing that had changed was an X-Wing that had just landed. He held his breath, trying to place the feeling. It was so familiar to him, but when had he last felt it?

The pilot left the cockpit of the X-Wing, helmet still on. He spoke to someone near him as his droid was lowered to the ground. Ezra started to walk forward, trying to get a better look at the hangar near the X-Wing. A blue and white astromech zoomed towards the group.

“Artoo! Wait, you can’t just charge off like that. Again!” the pilot called. He pulled his helmet off and began to run after the droid. 

“Oh, Luke’s back! Everyone, I want you to meet my brother, Luke Skywalker,” Leia said, turning to face the young man running towards him.

“Luke?” Ezra whispered, shock rushing over him. 

“ _The_ Luke Skywalker?” Sabine asked, excitement clear in her voice. They had heard about Luke a lot over the past five years. Luke Skywalker, the boy who took down the Death Star. Luke Skywalker, the boy who survived encounters with Vader. Luke Skywalker, the man who took down the Empire. 

But to Ezra, Luke was the boy from Tatooine.

The newcomer came running towards them all before halting a few feet away. He gawked at the two Jedi there. “What? What’s going on? Why are you two here?”

Kanan and Ezra stayed silent, words escaping them both. The younger man took another step forward, unsure of what to say. The rest of the group watched in wonder.

“It’s Ezra right? What are you doing here?” Luke said, clearly just as shaken by the reunion. “How can you be here?”

“I think we can ask that question, too,” he answered. He looked him over before his eyes landed on the metal cylinder attached to his flight suit. Ezra’s eyes widened as he pointed to it. “Luke… is that a lightsaber?” 

They had heard of another Jedi in the Rebellion. They had heard that he was a key player in the final battle against the Empire. They had heard whispers of it being Luke Skywalker. But they never met the man and they tried not to put much weight on the promise of another Jedi (especially with the name Skywalker. Neither Kanan nor Ezra wanted to put faith into a rumour that Anakin Skywalker had a child) being out there. Or at least, Ezra had thought he had never met the man.

“You’re last name…” Kanan seemed to be struggling with the words. “Your father…”

“Kanan, what’s going on?” Hera asked him as she moved closer and took his hand.

“This… this isn’t really something I can take the lead on,” he answered.

“Maybe I can fill in some gaps,” Leia said, moving next to the newcomer. “This is my brother, Luke Skywalker. I’m sure you’ve heard of him throughout the Rebellion. He’s been training as a Jedi, and was under Master Obi-Wan Kenobi’s guidance for a while. He was one of the key fighters in taking down the Empire at the battle of Endor. As for how he knows you… I can’t help there.”

“I met Ezra on Tatooine when I was seventeen. It was just a random meeting,” Luke filled in, the colour in his cheeks reddening. He glanced over at the man he spoke of. “We only spent a couple hours together, then he went off with his… father, I guess?”

A snort from Zeb brought Ezra’s focus back to what was happening. He looked from Kanan to Luke to everyone standing around him. Luke was continuing to explain how they knew each other and Ezra felt as though a ton of bricks landed on him. He had been so used to the world he had come to know and arrogantly thought he had finally put all the pieces together. He thought he had figured it all out. He touched Kanan’s shoulder briefly before walking off. He made his way to a hallway and asked a soldier where they were supposed to be staying. Once learned, Ezra disappeared from the hangar.

Luke was back and he was a Jedi. 

 

It was getting to be evening when Luke found Kanan and Ezra sitting in one of the common areas in the base. The windows were open and looked out over the planet’s ocean off in the distance. The smell of the salt water managed to reach them and circled the room.

The two Jedi were meditating, trying to reach a calm that they assumed they were never going to reach again. Ezra was the first to give up, mostly because he felt Luke’s presence when he had come to stand in the doorway. He tried to smile before letting Kanan know they had company. Kanan sighed and reached for the mask next to him. After placing it on, he turned towards where Luke was standing

“Luke, come in,” the man said. 

Luke nodded and frowned immediately. He glanced at Ezra before stepping fully into the room. “Sure.”

He made his way over and sat on the ground with them. Silence hung around them—it was clear no one knew where to start. Seconds dragged by and Ezra wondered if this was what the Jedi council looked like when Kanan was a kid. Did they sit in circles and wonder awkwardly who would start talking? Probably not. They must have known what they were doing with having all the Jedi around and their records. They weren’t fumbling blindly like now.

“Leia wanted me to let you both know that we’ll be eating dinner soon. She wants to hear about everything you’ve been up to in a more unofficial setting,” Luke said.

“That’s it?” Ezra asked him, giving a pointed look.

He laughed and shook his head. “No,” he answered, “but I did have to tell you that.”

“Luke, why don’t we start by answering any questions you have about us,” Kanan said, leaning forward an inch. “Then we’ll ask whatever questions we might have.”

“That we _might_ have?” Ezra snorted.

“So, you’re Jedi,” Luke said. It wasn’t a question. “You’ve been a part of the Rebellion since well before we met on Tatooine. I got the general rebel stuff filled in by the rest of your crew. I know that Kanan was training to be a Jedi before the Empire took over and that he found you, Ezra, when you were a kid. I guess what I want to know is if there are others of us out there? You would know, right?”

Kanan’s shoulders fell slightly as he rubbed his beard. Ezra cast his eyes to the ground before saying, “You’re the only Jedi we’ve seen in a few years. We’ve known a few but they’ve died or disappeared.”

“We heard from a Jedi Master a few times, but he hasn’t contacted us in the past few years,” the older Jedi explained. “But you, you knew Master Obi-Wan. We briefly made contact with him, but we haven’t heard from him either in the recent years. Did he… I assumed he has passed now?”

“Yes. Vader killed him shortly after he told me I could be a Jedi,” Luke explained. “He… he managed to contact me after his passing to give me guidance. I’m not entirely sure how he managed it. But there’s been nothing in the past few months. I think now that the Force is back in balance he doesn’t need to anymore.”

Ezra watched his face fall as he spoke. He wanted to reach over and take his hand or touch his knee, but his body wouldn’t move. He wanted Luke to know that he knew how he felt. And he did understand. The thought of Kanan dying had plagued him from the moment they met. Ezra knew that if he ever lost Kanan that he would break. 

Kanan was the one who reached out, a kind hand resting on Luke’s shoulder for a brief reassuring moment. Then he sighed. “Master Kenobi would have been very proud of you. You managed to defeat Vader.”

“Actually, that isn’t how it exactly happened,” was Luke’s soft response. Ezra frowned and scooted closer to him. He looked over the younger man, trying to encourage him to continue silently. Whether or not he got Ezra’s message, Luke did continue. “I didn’t kill him. I almost lost myself to the Dark Side, the Emperor and Vader tried to push me over the edge, but I fought back and nearly died. Vader saved me in the end and he killed the Emperor. I didn’t even get to save him, not physically, at least. Vader still died.”

“Why would you want to save him?” Ezra almost shouted. He could feel the tension oozing off of Kanan. Anger was flaring up within both of them. 

“Because he was my father. Vader was Anakin Skywalker,” he answered, looking Ezra in the eyes. 

The room froze. All the air in Ezra seemed to have escaped, leaving the man trying to remember how to breathe. He couldn’t make his eyes break their contact with Luke’s. They held the other’s gaze as the revelation sunk in. It was Kanan standing up that broke the two others’ eye contact. 

“Kanan,” Ezra said, starting to stand so he could follow his master.

“No,” the older man said, shaking his head. “I’m fine, I just need to think on this.”

The masked man left the room, leaving the two remaining in an uncomfortable silence. Time slid passed them and neither spoke. Ezra was still in his half standing position while Luke watched the door. Ezra could feel the tension in the other as though it were hitting him in the face. With a sigh, he flopped back to the floor, running a hand over his face. 

“Is he mad at me?” Luke asked, still looking at the door.

Shaking his head, Ezra answered, “No. He’s just confused. He knew Anakin before he was Vader. We knew his Padawan. All those Jedi that died, they aren’t a story for him. They were his teachers and friends. Anakin… Your father was an inspiration to him and so many others. To find out that Anakin became Vader, that he betrayed the ways and ideal of the Jedi, that he was a part of that slaughter… give him time. He’ll be okay.”

“Are you mad at me?” Luke asked, turning to look at him. 

Ezra felt his throat tighten. Was he mad? Could he be mad? Mad at Luke, of all people? This was the boy he had met so many years ago and confided to in a time of need. How could he let him know what he was feeling right now? There was anger and shock, disbelief and just relief. Relief that things were over and they could all move on. Relief that there was another Jedi in the galaxy and maybe they weren’t alone. Relief that Luke was just as good and kind now as he had been on Tatooine.

But there was some resentment. He couldn’t deny that. Ezra just wasn’t sure what it was there for. Was it to Anakin Skywalker for letting down the entire Jedi Order and galaxy? Was it to Luke for trying to save that man? 

“I’m not mad at you. How could I be? Luke, you saved the galaxy. Somehow you did it. Luke, I don’t think I can be mad at you. I’m just… overwhelmed, and so is Kanan,” he explained, trying to find the right words. He was avoiding the other’s gaze. “We had always hoped that we would find other Jedi one day, we just had no idea it was you. I mean you were just this kid on Tatooine. You weren’t this hero of the people.”

“Neither were you,” Luke replied. He reached out and touched Ezra’s hand. It was warm and comforting, encouraging Ezra to look back at Luke. “You were just some kid stuck on Tatooine in a storm. You were just you.”

“I’m still me, I’m just not hiding my lightsaber this time,” he said, trying to laugh off the moment between them. He quickly took his hand out from under Luke’s and stood up. “So, your old master came back as… What, a ghost?”

Luke let out a shaky laugh and nodded. “I’ll explain on the way to dinner.”

The two men stood up and looked at each other. Ezra felt something turn inside him when he looking at Luke. He was taller now, but somehow Luke seemed to be larger than he was. He seemed to take over the room they were in. There was something about this man. There had always been something about him. 

 

The next day, Ezra made his way down to the debriefing room. He had walked in to find Sabine chatting to the other Jedi. He greeted them before leaning against the round holotable in the middle of the room. They were waiting for Leia and other rebel generals to come and give them their mission. Sabine patted Luke’s shoulder before coming over to stand next to Ezra.

“Long night? You look horrible,” she said, leaning against the table as well. 

He glanced at Luke before shrugging, “There was a lot of my mind. I did get some sleep. It was nice not having to share a room with Zeb for once.”

“Oh, you missed him,” she laughed and shoved his shoulder slightly. “The fresh air is probably what kept you up.”

Ezra laughed before straightening up. Leia was walking into the room, handing a datapad to the soldier next to her. She smiled at the group before turning the holotable on. The hologram of a planet appeared in front of them.

“This is Endregaad. It’s an Outer Rim planet and parts of it are still under control of the Empire, or rather, what remains of the Empire,” the princess said. She pressed another button and the image changed to a small town and a mining facility. Ezra frowned at the sight of Imperial forces around the mining base. “The Empire started mining here for natural minerals used throughout the Empire. When the Empire fell, the citizens of Endregaad managed to remove the majority of Imperial forces from their power. However, this mining facility is still under control of the Empire.”

“So, we’re going to liberate them?” Sabine asked, frowning over the image as well. 

“You three are going to do reconnaissance for us, nothing more,” Leia answered.

“You’re sending two Jedi and a extremely skilled fighter to do recon,” Ezra stated, crossing his arms. “Isn’t that a little overkill?”

“Generally I’ve found when I send my brother on a mission, things get hairy. I don’t want them to become more chaotic than they need to be. You three will go there, find out just how large the Imperial forces are there and then call in the fleet,” the woman explained, crossing her own arms. She raised an eyebrow at the group. “Unless you think you can’t handle this mission.”

“No, no, we can handle it,” Luke said, smiling at his sister. 

“Good. Sabine,” Leia said, “you’ll be in charge of this mission. I trust you’ll keep these two in line. I’m sending Artoo with you. He’ll meet you in the hangar in two hours. Good luck, and may the Force be with you.”

She left the room after that, leaving the new team to think over their mission.

“Well, if we’re leaving in two hours, I need to make sure I have enough art supplies for the trip,” Sabine said, winking at Ezra. The man rolled his eyes as she left.

“Art supplies?” Luke asked, walking over to the other Jedi.

“She means bombs, though they really are works of art. Hopefully you’ll get to see them. Or hopefully not, if we actually manage to have a normal recon mission,” Ezra said, keeping his eyes on the hologram still showing over the table. 

Luke nodded, his gaze lingering on the man in front of him. Ezra could feel it wash over his body and felt tension creep throughout him. He wasn’t worried about the mission; he had been through much harder ones. So why was this one bothering him? He wasn’t even sure if what he was feeling was stress. He looked over at Luke and smiled faintly. “Let’s go get ready to go.”


	2. Chapter 2

Luke landed the _Phantom II_ on the outskirts of the mining town. It would take them at least an hour to walk into the town. Ezra complained that it was unnecessary to be that far away, they weren’t fugitives and rebels anymore and could they please stop acting like they were, but Sabine overruled him. Better safe than sorry. So the group set out, their blue and white droid leading the way. Sabine was checking her datapad and the two younger men followed behind her. 

Ezra kicked a stone as they made their way. He glanced every now and then at Luke, who seemed to be focused on other things than him. Sighing, he continued to kick the stone. They were almost there, but the walk had left Ezra with time to have his thoughts wander away from him. He couldn’t get his mind off of Luke.

Luke. 

It had been two days since the mutual reveal of being Jedi. It seemed almost surreal now. Neither of them spoke much about what had been said; the group was focusing on their mission, working out possible plans for once they landed on Endregaad. It was hard to read Luke. He seemed to be upbeat and relaxed from the little interaction they’d actually had together, but Ezra knew all to well it could have just been an act. Or just habit. Ezra felt like there was something swimming around underneath the man’s surface.

The three of them walked into the town soon enough, forcing Ezra to push his thoughts aside. The town was busy—it was getting to midday. They made their way through the streets heading toward the town centre. Ezra looked around and frowned. Nothing seemed off, which was weird. Why were they sent here if nothing was wrong in the town? Where were all the Imperial soldiers they were supposed to be on guard from?

Sabine led them into a tavern called _The Miner’s Pit_. The main room was full of people, laughing and drinking. They weaved their way through the crowd towards the bar. Ezra moved closer to Luke to try and find a moment to whisper into his ear about how they’ll always end up near a bar together but Sabine was already calling the bartender over. 

“We’ll have three cups of caf,” she said, placing some credits on the counter. Ezra slid onto the stool next to her; Luke stayed back a step and leaned down to talk to R2-D2.

The bartender nodded and got to work. Sabine glanced at Ezra before sitting on a stool herself. She tapped the counter as she looked around the room. Ezra followed suit to see what the crowd in there was like. Clearly the majority of the people were miners. There was a mixed group of species and the entire place seemed to be coated in a thin layer of grime. Mining towns brought everyone together and there was always dirt. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their day—the room was incredibly loud. Ezra turned to Luke as the other Jedi sat next to him. He smiled before focusing on the bartender returning with their drinks.

“So,” Sabine said after taking a sip of her caf, “we just got here but I have to admit, we’re a little confused. We were told there was still a heavy Imperial presence here.”

“Yeah, we didn’t see a single stormtrooper in our walk through town,” Ezra jumped in, ignoring Sabine’s quick glare. “Not that we’re really complaining.”

“What brings you here that would have you worried about the Empire?” the man asked them, raising an eyebrow. He laughed when they all sheepishly grinned at him. “Not to worry, the Empire has been almost entirely thrown out of town. Just over a month ago we got rid of the last station they had here. Now they’re all cooped up in the mines.”

“So that’s why it’s so busy here,” Sabine said, looking around the room again. “Everyone who should be in the mines working can’t with the Imperial forces there.”

“More or less. The town is on a semi-boycott. A few of the miners are still stuck in the mines, held hostage and forced into working. We’re trying to plan a rescue, but condensed as they are, we just can’t take on their forces in the mines,” the bartender explained.

The Mandalorian nodded and leaned forward. In a low voice, she asked, “Say we wanted to find this mine, how would we get there?”

“You’ll need to acquire some speeders to get yourselves out there,” the man answered. “We don’t take anyone to the mines anymore, our workers don’t come back. The late-Empire has captured everyone that’s gone out there.”

“Thank you for your time,” Sabine smiled at him. Ezra listened to her as she made arrangements for them to have rooms for the next couple nights and where they could rent the speeders they’d need. 

Luke pushed his empty cup away from him and nudged Ezra. He looked over, eyebrows raised in question. 

“You’re not going to drink your caf?” Luke asked, pointing to the mostly full cup.

“Oh, no. I never got into drinking it. Kanan would say when I was younger that it’s because I had enough energy to climb a signal tower on my own that caf could never give me anything extra to work with,” he replied, grinning. He offered to the cup to Luke, who shrugged and took it. “I think Kanan was grateful I never wanted to have the extra energy.”

“Remember the one time Zeb gave you three cups of caf in an hour?” Sabine jumped in, leaning around Ezra on the bar. “I think Hera was ready to kick you off the Ghost permanently.”

“That wasn’t my fault!” he exclaimed, shoving Sabine slightly. He could feel his face warming. “And I fixed all the equipment I broke.”  
“How much did you break?” Luke asked, trying to force his smile down.

“We couldn’t use our old shuttle, the Phantom, for close to a week,” she answered, laughing as she spoke. “In Ezra’s defence, Zeb was kicked off the ship for the day. Kanan was not a fan of his Padawan being ‘drugged’.”

Luke laughed. Ezra finally grinned with the two others. It was nice to hear Luke laugh. It felt like they were just here on a trip, no worries of the enemy or of what the future held. It was moments like these when his family and friends were relaxed and happy, he felt like he could let go of the darkness that hovered around him. He could sink into the calm of being loved for a moment and just live. 

 

Sabine led them up to their rooms late that evening, after they had talked to as many miners as they could, and after they ate a dinner that easily beat the food that they got from the Rebellion. Sabine handed the men a key and told them to be ready to start planning for the next day in a few minutes. They went into the room at the end of the hall and sighed at the sight they found. There was a small and very dusty looking couch across from an equally well-kept single bed with a low table between the two. A single chair filled the space between. R2-D2 rolled around the room, beeping loudly in disdain. 

“We’re making Sabine take Artoo while we’re here,” Ezra stated, trying to move around the droid to get to the couch. “There’s definitely no room for him in here.”

Luke laughed as he dropped his bag on the table. He reached over to Ezra who handed his bag over. “Who takes the bed?” 

He shrugged, “I’m fine on the couch. We won’t be here long anyway.”

He was answered with a warm smile. Ezra turned to look at the door as Sabine let herself into the room. “You’re taking Artoo tonight,” he said, turning to look at her. 

She raised an eyebrow and smirked at her friend before making her way to join him on the couch. Luke sat down on the bed while Ezra gave her a questioning look. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Sabine said, patting his shoulder. She pulled out her datapad and placed it on the table in front of her. A map of the town and area around it appeared above it. She pointed to a dot on the map before starting to explain their mission, “This is the mine here. We can get the speeders easily, there has to be a half dozen dealers in this town. Ezra, you and I will go to the mine and scope it out, figure out just what we’re dealing with. Luke, you and Artoo are going to stay here in town. And before you complain, we need more information about how everything went down here. Only the people who live here can give us that.” 

“I’m not complaining,” Luke said, shrugging. “I’m bad luck on stealth missions, to be frank. I don’t actually know why Leia sent me on this one.”

“You’ve got to be better than Ezra.”

“Hey, I can be stealthy!” Ezra exclaimed, sitting upright on the couch. “I have Jedi training, we can be very sneaky!”

Luke and Sabine both looked at him, causing him to scoff and throw his hands up in the air. The two laughed as Sabine nudged his shoulder. “Lighten up, I know you’ve been stealthy once or twice in your life.”

“I was a street kid for seven years, I’ve been stealthy more than once in my life.” He glared at her as he spoke. This is what he got for having a found family, she (and Zeb) felt like there were years of teasing to make up for. And of course, she had to get some in in front of Luke. 

“You were a street kid?” Luke asked, the brightness in his face fading away. 

Ezra looked over at him, their eyes meeting. He felt the need to reach out but wasn’t sure why. So instead, he shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, it was ten years ago. But it _is_ where I learned to be incredibly stealthy.”

Sabine rolled her eyes and shoved him off of the couch. She turned her attention back to her datapad. She leaned in to change the image into one of the mine. “We’re going to hide here,” she said, pointing to a ridge along the left side of the facility. “It will give us cover but allow us to actually see what’s happening.”

“When do we head out tomorrow?” Luke asked, his eyes still on Ezra. He was pulling himself back onto the couch, grinning at Sabine.

“Pretty early. At oh-eight-hundred.”

“Then we better get to sleep,” Ezra said as he reached to turn the datapad off. He handed it to Sabine who smiled at him. “We’re going to have a long and slow day tomorrow.”

“Maybe we’ll have a normal mission where everything goes wrong,” the Mandalorian replied and she stood. Both men followed suit and Ezra headed towards the door. He ushered the droid there as Sabine made her way behind him. She patted her friend’s shoulder as she and R2-D2 left the room, leaving the two Jedi alone for the first time in two days. 

Ezra stayed at the door, looking around the room. Luke started pulling off his boots, throwing glances across the room every now and then. Rubbing his neck, the older of the two walked back to the couch. He tried to keep his eyes off of Luke. He was suddenly nervous to be left alone with him. He knew it wasn’t nerves for the next day; recon missions never made him nervous. But his mind wouldn’t stop buzzing. He decided to take his boots off, too. It was getting late so maybe it was just time to call it a night and try to shut his brain off. Ezra looked up from his feet to see Luke turned away from him, staring out the window in the room. He watched him for half a breath before opening his mouth to speak. 

“Hey, I wanted to ask you abou--“

“Ezra, I was wonder--“

They both stopped themselves, realizing what had happened. Luke grinned, trying to keep from laughing. Ezra sighed and gestured for the other to talk first. Nodding, he sat on the bed and looked out the window again for a moment. 

“I was just wondering how long you had been a part of the Rebellion?” Luke asked, shrugging slightly. “You and Sabine just seem to be really used to this kind of situation.”

“Well,” Ezra said, shifting his feet as he answered, “Kanan and them found me when I was fourteen. After a… sort of rocky start, Kanan realized I was Force sensitive and brought me on. I think Hera had a huge say in it, though. We found out a while after I turned fifteen about the larger Rebellion so… it’s been almost ten years.”

“So, you knew about the Rebellion when you ran into me on Tatooine?” Luke asked, picking at the blanket draped over the bed. He was looking down, avoiding making any eye contact at all. Ezra frowned before standing up. He moved closer to the bed, his steps slow and deliberate. “You were on a mission there?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t an interesting one. It was duller than this one.”

“You told me that you were having problems with your family,” the Jedi looked up directly at Ezra. His eyes were kinder than the words that left his mouth. They were asking for more but it wasn’t a demand. Ezra sighed and sat down next to Luke, folding his hands in his lap. “What happened?”

After a few moments of silence, the question hanging in the air, Ezra looked back at Luke. “I was in a really bad place for a long time,” he said, trying to keep from wringing his hands. “I had made a huge mistake which cost Kanan his sight and we almost lost a friend. We know that she’s okay now but… for a long time we thought she had died. I thought I had led her to her death. After that, I started using the Dark Side, telling myself that it would make me stronger. That using both would be how I could have the power to save everyone I loved.

“When I ran into you, everything was still so raw. Luke… I’m still grateful for you listening to me. Finding you on Tatooine like that, it couldn’t have been random. I guess it was the Force or something.” He looked at the man next to him on the bed. Luke had edged closer to him, his eyes still kind and open. Still asking him to reveal things to him. Just like all those years ago. There was a faint smile on his face that Ezra wasn’t going to ever forget.

“But you’re okay now?” Luke asked, leaning towards him as he did. 

Ezra looked away as the question landed on him. “It took a long time for me to get in a good place again. To reject the Dark Side of the Force. To be honest, I’m still tempted by it; I think I’m always going to be tempted by the Dark Side. I’ve lost so many people and that left me angry. But I can resist it now. I can always resist it.”

Luke smiled at him and energy surged through his body, from his fingers to his chest. Ezra returned the smile, letting the tension that was building up in him begin to fade away just a bit. He leaned in towards Luke just a little, enjoying the warmth that was consuming him. He let the moment exist between them.

“You were going to ask something, too,” Luke said, nudging his shoulder.

“Right,” he answered, his smile faltering slightly. “It was about Vader--”

“Guys! You need to come now!” The door to their room flew up as Sabine shouted. There was worry and anger written all over her face. Both men jumped and grabbed their boots, both trying to put them on while running to leave the room (only Ezra fell once in this attempt.) 

“What’s going on?” he asked, hopping behind the other two as he finally got his shoes on. 

“I heard shouting outside and someone said something about stormtroopers,” Sabine called back as she led them down the stairs, skipping every other step. They charged out of the tavern and were immediately forced to drop to the ground as blaster shots flew through the doorway they had just occupied.

Ezra looked up at the scene in front of them. At least a dozen stormtroopers were making their way through the streets, firing at citizens of the town and grabbing the occasional person, each one clearly a miner. Jumping to his feet, he drew the blaster he carried and charged towards the Imperial fighters. 

Dodging a blaster shot from his left, Ezra managed to disarm a trooper about to fire on one of the bystanders to the fight. He made his way from person to person; either helping those caught in the crossfire or knocking a stormtrooper unconscious. He looked around trying to plan the next step.

Luke had pulled his lightsaber out and was fighting off one soldier. Since there was no hiding that there were Jedi here, Ezra sighed and pulled out his own, holstering his blaster. He Force blasted a trooper running towards him and sent him flying into a wall. 

Ezra looked around for Sabine. He saw a colourful explosion go off on a side street and ran toward it. He came to the mouth of it to see an Imperial carrier on fire. He grinned when Sabine turned and looked at him. She gave him a thumbs-up right as Ezra was thrown to the ground by an explosion behind him. He scrambled back on his feet as a blaster fired. He looked to see Sabine on the ground as a trooper was attempting to choke Sabine with his blaster, his body pinning her on the ground.

Running forwards, he used the Force to push the soldier away. Sabine scrambled to her feet, shoving the man further away before using her blaster to stun him. Ezra stopped next to her, checking around them for any other troopers in the alley. 

“How’s it going back on the main street?” she asked in a slightly raspy voice, trotting towards the main road.

“It was mostly clear when I came after you,” Ezra answered, following her out. He had only taken a few steps when something made him turn around. He looked behind him to see the stormtrooper they had taken down was getting ready to fire. “No!” 

A blast went off, speeding down the alley. It missed them barely. Ezra acted quickly—the trooper was already taking aim again. Using the Force, he pulled the stormtrooper forward, his blaster firing at them as he soared through the air. Ezra’s lightsaber ran the man through once he was in range. The soldier fell to the ground as the Jedi fought to keep his hand on his weapon. He stared at the now dead man. 

A hand on his shoulder made him tear his eyes away from the body. Sabine had her now singed helmet under her arm, eyes searching his. He realized one of the blasts had landed their mark—she would have died had it not been for her helmet. He swallowed; trying to keep whatever was fighting to escape his mouth in. She squeezed his shoulder, her eyes searching his. “Ezra, let’s go. It’s over.”

He nodded and followed her out of the alley. They came out to what was a completely different town than when they arrived. The fight in the street didn’t last longer than a half hour, but it looked like everything had been overturned. There were fires on and around the main road; the buildings lining it were destroyed in the front. Ezra clenched his fist, trying to contain the rage and hate that was starting to build within him. This was the Empire’s legacy.

Sabine rushed over to Luke who was helping a few children out from under some fallen debris. Ezra hung back, glancing behind him at the alleyway.

It had been a long time since he had taken a life. He had been doing what he could to avoid it. The image of his lightsaber running the man through played over and over in his mind. In the moment he hadn’t thought at all, all he knew was that he had to protect Sabine. Protect his family. He was never going to let someone he loved die. Not if he had the power to help. Ezra felt cold as his mind tried to sort itself out. He had had those thoughts before. He knew where they led. Ezra knew he didn’t want to go down that path. Not again.

He was drawn back to the present when Luke came over and touched his arm. He looked at the other Jedi and tried to put a smile on his face. It wouldn't stick. Luke was about to say something when Sabine came up behind him.

“Okay, the stormtroopers are dealt with, or they left. No one in the town died, but it looks like some of the troopers that escaped took some more of the miners with them,” she said, running her hand through her hair. 

“We’ll free them,” Luke said, as his hand dropped back to his side. Ezra looked down at his arm, already missing the warmth that had been there and pushing his thoughts back. “Once our back up comes, we’ll get them all out.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, smiling at him. “We just have to get through recon tomorrow.”

Ezra frowned and turned away from the pair. He looked at the alley he had been in again before starting to head back for the tavern. He heard Luke call after him and Sabine saying to let him go; he didn’t look back to see if that order was obeyed. He needed to get away from them. He needed to get away from everyone. He could feel his whole body begin to tremble, as if something invisible had grabbed him and started shaking. 

Once he was back in his room, he tore his boots off his feet and left them wherever they landed. The room was brighter than it should have been; the fires from the streets below sent a warm glow inside. Ezra stared at the light dancing along the walls before moving to the window. He pulled the blinds shut and submerged the room into the darkness. He moved to the couch and dropped onto it, curling into himself. Ezra lay there, waiting for sleep to overtake him. But it didn’t; he was just lying on the couch with his eyes closed, surrounded by the feeling of everything pressing down on him. He felt like he was being consumed. 

He didn’t open his eyes when Luke came into the room or when he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. He just let the other man settle in for the night and wished to just make it through it himself. 

Just to make it to the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

Ezra couldn’t remember when he fell asleep. He did remember waking up at the same time that Luke did. It was earlier than they needed to. Silently, they both got ready for the day. There was no comment on the fact they were both drenched in sweat from uneasy sleep. Neither addressed what took place the night before. They took turns using refresher to clean up. Together, they made their way downstairs to wait for the day to begin.

They were both picking at their food when Sabine found them. She placed her own breakfast on the table and watched them both for a moment before starting to eat. The trio ate without a word passing between them, either because of the hardships of the night before or a general worry for the day to come. Sabine finished her food and looked up at Ezra.

“Ready?” Sabine asked as she stood up. 

He nodded, stacking his half eaten plate on her empty one. He smiled faintly at Luke before following her out of the tavern. Ezra looked back through the doorway to see that the other Jedi had pushed his food away. 

Once they had rented their speeders for the day, the pair made their way out of the town. Ezra felt his spirits brighten as they sped through the vast surrounding fields, away from the destruction of the night before. It would take them close to a half hour to reach the mines even with the bikes. This was an opportunity to clear his head and focus on the mission. Even taking down the smallest sliver of the fractured Empire would help make him feel better.

Once they arrived at the mines, the pair climbed the ridge that Sabine had chosen, keeping low as they made their way to the top. They knew how to do this without discussing it; Sabine would climb first, Ezra bringing up the rear. It came to them with ease now with all the years of fighting under their belts. They were at the top in no time, settling in for what was going to be a long day of staring and stifling yawns. 

Ezra got down on his stomach first, settling in for the work ahead. He glanced up at Sabine, who was staring down at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing,” she answered, plopping down next to him. She pulled out her macrobinoculars and began to edge her way to the ridge’s end to start watching the mines below them.

“Sabine, what is it?” Ezra asked again, pushing down the binoculars.

“You just seem to be a little grumpier today,” she said, shrugging. 

“I’m not grumpier! Why do you think I’m grumpy?” he demanded. 

“Well, it’s more that you seem to be grumpy towards Luke,” Sabine explained, sighing. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

Ezra stared at her before grabbing the macrobinoculars from her. “I’m not grumpy or mad or whatever towards Luke. And yes, I know I can talk to you, but thankfully I have nothing to say right now!” he snapped.

“Then what’s wrong?”

Ezra looked out over the mines. “This is what’s wrong,” he said, pointing with the binoculars. “The Empire. I’m tired of how even when they’re on the run and destroyed they can still ruin people’s lives! I’m tired of having to still fight them. And look, this is ridiculous, there’s no way the town stood a chance against them in the long run!”

Sabine looked to where he was pointing and sighed.

Below them was the mining facility, though it looked more like an army base. There were at least a dozen TIE fighters, two AT-ATs, and a handful of AT-STs. A half a dozen Imperial Troop Transports topped it all off. They had no way of knowing just how many stormtroopers there were in the entire facility, but they could see close to twenty outside the mines. It was more than what they had been told could be here, by both the Rebellion and from the people in town. 

“How are their numbers so big?” Sabine muttered, pulling out her datapad to record what they were seeing. “I know the town isn’t equipped to fight, not really, but this is insane! To control a town this size, maybe half those forces are necessary!”

“Maybe they gathered their forces from what was left around the planet,” Ezra said, looking out over the mines still. “Should we contact Luke?”

“Yes,” she answered, turning her back on the mines and scooting away from the edge of the ridge. “I’ll contact the fleet while you do that. I don’t think we need to do recon for the whole day to figure out if we need back up.”

“And we thought we were going to have a long and boring reconnaissance mission,” Ezra chuckled as he lifted his communicator to his mouth. “Rogue Leader, this is Spectre Six. Come in. The plans are changing.”

He waited for the answer as he half listened to Sabine give their update to the Rebel fleet. He watched the stormtroopers below begin to inspect their forces, obviously preparing for whomever it was that interrupted their raid the night before. Sabine crawled back up next to him, gesturing for the binoculars. 

As Ezra handed her them to her, she relayed what the fleet had told her. “Rogue squadron, Phoenix squadron, and Gold squadron will be here in five hours at the earliest. They also remind us to not get involved till they get here.”

“Sound good. But just so you know, Luke isn’t responding,” he answered while grimacing.

Sabine sighed and put the binoculars down. “Of course he isn’t, why would any part of this mission go as planned?” she muttered under her breath. She rested her head in her hand for a moment before looking back at Ezra. “Go find him. Once you’ve found him, radio me and I’ll tell you where the rendezvous is.”

Ezra nodded. He trotted down the ridge to where they had left the speeders. He tried contacting Luke again but there was still no reply. Hopping on one of the bikes, he started heading back to the town. He tried not to think about how much could happen to Luke within the half hour it would take him to get to the town. Not to mention how long it would take to even track him down.

He was ten minutes away from the ridge when the sight of a passing blue and white droid forced him to turn around. Ezra stopped next to R2-D2 and scrambled off as the droid started to beep itself into a frenzy.

“Slow down, Artoo!” Ezra said, kneeling down in front of the droid. “Slow down and start over. Where’s Luke?”

R2-D2 made an exasperated sound that reminded him of his family droid before a hologram appeared between them. It showed Luke talking to a man before something caused them to turn around and stare. A blaster shot flew through the hologram and was followed by four stormtroopers. The man Luke was speaking to managed to escape but Ezra watched as Luke was hit with a blaster shot and fell to the ground. Two of the stormtroopers cuffed him and dragged him out of sight from the hologram.

At least he knew Luke was alive and he had an idea of where he might be. 

“Artoo, go to Sabine and fill her in. She may have even seen him brought in by now, but tell her I’m going to find Luke in the base anyway,” he said, jumping onto the speeder. He pointed to where R2-D2 needed to go before starting the engine of his bike and heading towards the back of the mines. 

Ezra tried to remember the map of the complex in his head. If he remembered correctly, there was a path down into the mines in the back that Sabine had said wasn’t as heavily guarded. He hoped her intel was right this time; while he was confident in his skill, Ezra didn’t feel like alerting the whole place of his arrival. 

By the time he had made his way down into the pit, to the back of the headquarters, the sun was high in the sky. Ezra was starting to sweat as he trotted towards the building in front of him. The layout to the complex was fairly simple. He had to give the Empire that, they had seemed to make everything the same, which made everything simple to infiltrate. And so far Sabine had been right, there weren’t any troopers guarding the back of the building. 

“I guess they’re consistent in more than just building layouts,” Ezra muttered to himself as he reached the building. 

There were no doors into the headquarters on the back wall. A few feet above him was the entrance to a ventilation shaft but that only caused him to sigh. Gone were the days where he could easily move through those. While generally he could manage it, albeit with a lot of wriggling, time was of the essence and he couldn’t afford wasting any of it. He had no way of knowing what was happening to Luke at that moment and would rather get the other Jedi out before there was any loss of limb.

Instead, Ezra made his way around the left of building, avoiding the sight lines of any stormtroopers. The right of the building was next to the shaft towers leading into the mines, it was best to avoid those for now. On this side, there were doors as well as windows all the way up the side of the building to the roof. Using the Force to ease the jumps and his climb, Ezra scaled the side of the building. Once on the roof, he looked over at the ridge where Sabine was, or at least had been. Ezra shook his head and walked to the service door. No use thinking about her at the moment, she had the easier end of the mission now (then again, he wouldn’t really worry about her that much if it were the reverse—she could always handle herself just fine.) 

Getting from the roof to the main levels of the headquarters took longer than Ezra would have liked. He could sense Luke and knew he was on the main floor, but getting there was the problem. Inside the building there was an excessive amount of stormtroopers. And Ezra was determined to prove to Sabine that he could be stealthy, which meant no engagement with the troopers. It was frustrating work.

Ezra finally got to the main level and looked around the corridor. At the moment it was empty but it was safe to say that wasn’t going to last. Feeling a tug to his right; he started to make his way down the corridor, keeping his footsteps as quiet as he could without losing speed. He was reaching the turn at the end of the hall when he heard something crash in the closet next to him.

Frowning, he opened the door to find Luke cuffed at his ankles and wrists, kicking out at the shelf across from him. 

Crossing his arms and smirking, Ezra looked down at the tied up man. “So,” he said, trying to keep his voice even, “how did talking about the town go?”

“Very funny, Ezra,” Luke answered dryly. He readjusted himself so that his back was facing him. Ezra, who knelt down and waved his hand over the cuffs. They unlatched themselves and fell to ground. He reached around Luke to do the same to the cuffs at his ankles. “Thank you.”

“Come on,” Ezra said, pulling the other to his feet. His hand lingered around Luke’s elbow before dropping quickly. He turned away to look down the corridor. Still clear, but this luck was going to end soon. “We need to go. Sabine’s called for backup but we don’t want to be here longer than we have to be.”

“No!” Luke grabbed Ezra’s arm, pulling him back. They came face to face and Ezra’s breath got caught in his throat. He went stiff as Luke’s hand grabbed his shoulder. “We can’t leave!”

“What… what’s going to happen?” he asked as he kept his mind from wandering to the warmth moving through him from Luke’s touch. 

“They’re going to blow up the town.” Ezra’s eyes widened before he swore. Luke squeezed his shoulder as he continued: “They were talking about it when they thought I was still unconscious. They’re going to destroy the town and move their operations there. The mine isn’t as convenient a location.”

“When are they going to do this?” 

“Tonight.”

Ezra was about to respond when a blaster shot sped past them. The two Jedi turned to their left and saw a group of stormtroopers. Their time was up and they needed to move. Ezra pulled out his lightsaber to deflect the oncoming blasts as they turned the corner at their end of the hall. 

“Now what?” Luke yelled back as they ran down the new corridor. 

The alarm system rang through the building as red lights began flashing. There was shouting behind them and the sound of blasters being fired. 

“I’d say not dying is a good start!” Ezra shouted back as he turned around to deflect a blaster shot. “Then, I don’t know, we could blow this base up?”

Luke threw a look of scepticism at him before it shifted. “That could work.”

“I was joking!” Ezra turned to face the direction they were moving in again. They were in the middle of the hall now when stormtroopers appeared in front of them at the other end. They were cut off. Coming to a halt, Ezra grabbed Luke’s arm. “I didn’t actually mean it!”

Luke grinned briefly before looking between the two groups of soldiers. He then looked along the wall behind them. He pointed to a set recessed of doors. “Try our luck there and then we can decide the next step?”

Ezra rolled his eyes and ran to the door. It was going to be locked; he knew that from the multiple times he’d been stuck in a lock-down Imperial base. He used his lightsaber to start cutting through the door, hoping he didn’t get shot down while his back was turned. He glanced back at his friend occasionally to make sure neither of them was going to die. Luke had managed to get hold of a blaster and was firing back.

The door finally gave way and the two men ran through. Luke kept watch of the now permanently open entrance as Ezra took in their new surroundings. They were outside on the other side of the building from where he had entered to find Luke. One of the two shaft towers was in front of them as well as the dozens of stormtroopers. And those dozens of troopers were turning to see what the commotion was. 

Looking around quickly, Ezra decided what their next move was going to be. “Luke,” he shouted back over the voices of the stormtroopers and the blasters. “Do you trust me?” 

Luke looked over his shoulder and nodded before turning back to the troopers making their way through the exit. 

Ezra grabbed Luke’s arm and tugged him. He ran towards the mineshaft and saw the cable for the elevator hanging in front of them. He wasn’t sure when Luke caught onto the plan but there was no hesitation next to him. They charged at the tower, ducking through the skeletal form looming over them. They glanced at each other before jumping down into the hole. Shouts from the troopers now above them were all that followed them into the dark. 

 

Time seemed to move slower in the mines. Ezra knew that wasn’t possible. He knew they had only been walking for around a half hour, but it didn’t change how it felt like they had been trying to navigate the mines for much longer. So far they hadn’t run into anyone but with every turn they made, it was only a matter of time. They only had to wait. 

Perhaps it was the darkness around them that caused this shift in how time moved. With only the light from Ezra’s lightsaber (it seemed they were now traveling through old and unused tunnels of the mines, remnants of old lighting fixtures were occasionally decorating the walls), the tunnels were dark ahead and behind, the green glow not bringing much comfort to either man.

Or maybe it was that Luke had been silent since they safely made it into these tunnels. Every now and then, Ezra would point out for Luke to watch where he stepped, but that was it for conversation. It made the tunnel seem closer around them than it actually was. The sound of a distant drop of water or stone falling and the ongoing hum from the lightsaber were all that met their ears. 

And so time moved on as they made their way further underground. They couldn’t contact Sabine and they couldn’t turn around. The way they came from was a guaranteed death, though forward wasn’t much more promising when it came to their survival. It was a normal mission in the end, Ezra thought to himself as the path they were on began to climb a bit. 

Once they reached a split in the tunnel, the two Jedi decided a break was called for. Ezra slid to the ground, holding his lightsaber upright in front of him. Luke was staring down one of the tunnels, the silhouette of his body rigid. The air around them seemed thick and old. It was hard for Ezra to not feel like they were stuck in a tomb.

Ezra watched him. Luke was definitely taller than when he had seen him on Tatooine, which made sense since it had been years since they had met. But it was more than just age that gave Luke this presence. There was something underneath it all that gave the feeling to onlookers that the galaxy had thrown its worst at him and he had survived. Just like Ezra. Just like everyone who had lived through this war. 

He wondered about how he appeared now. He could faintly remember the days when he had longer hair and when the world seemed brighter. Did he seem older now? Did the way he held himself give away how much he had lost? Could Luke tell just by looking at him how much he had survived?

With a sigh that drew Ezra’s attention back to the present, Luke turned to face him and made his way to sit near him. A few moments later, with another sigh, both pairs of blue eyes had met and Luke asked, “Do you have a problem with me?”

He was taken aback by the directness of the question after well over an hour of silence between them. He kept his gaze level as he searched for the words to answer. So far he had nothing.

Luke tried again, “You’ve been all over the place since I showed up. One minute we’re laughing, the next I feel like you want me ten feet away from you. What’s going on?”

Ezra looked away and let out a sigh of his own. “It’s not you. At least, it’s not you in the way you’re thinking it’s you.”

“Okay, that’s hard to tell considering you’ve barely spoken to me,” Luke accused. When Ezra opened his mouth to argue Luke held up his hand. “Since I arrived at the base, we’ve had maybe three real conversations and I’m pretty sure I sought you out for the majority. Ezra, I just found out I wasn’t the only Jedi and now I’m being ignored by them!”

“Kanan isn’t ignoring you,” he offered. He was answered with the most exasperated sound it could have rivalled Chopper. 

“Kanan isn’t the one I’ve been trying to reach out to!” Luke’s voice was starting to get louder. He inhaled and exhaled, eyes closed for a brief moment. When they opened again they seemed to have aged, though it might have been the green glow distorting everything in the tunnel. Quietly, he said, “I’m trying to reach you.”

Ezra swallowed, finding his mouth dry all of a sudden. There was a dropping feeling in his stomach. The world around them seemed to freeze entirely. It was as if Luke controlled time around him. Ezra wouldn’t have been surprised.

“Luke, I promise it’s not you. It’s… it’s everything. I told you that I was in a dark place when we met, right?” Ezra looked him over as he spoke. He was given a small nod: a nod of confirmation and maybe of encouragement. “It got worse than what you saw. I barely made it through this rebellion as myself.

“When I killed that stormtrooper last night… It brought back everything. In the instant I did that, every dark thought I had ever had seemed to just come back. I hate it. I hate feeling that way.”

He stopped talking, looking away from Luke. His eyes were starting to well up and he didn’t want the other to see. They sat in silence as Ezra tried to find the next words to say but he felt stuck. Luke waited patiently, which didn’t help either. He was too ready to accept Ezra’s reality. Ezra wasn’t even sure if he had accepted it yet, but there was Luke waiting.

“I hate it. I hate the darkness I still feel and I hate that I know the strength it brought me,” he said as he buried his face in one of his hands. He turned his lightsaber off and let it drop to his feet. He didn’t need Luke being able to see him. “I’ve been trying so hard to not kill anymore. I’ve been trying to restrain that side. But they almost got Sabine and I just… I just reacted so fast. I couldn’t let the Empire take anything more from me. I couldn’t.”

“Ezra, it’s okay,” Luke whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to blame yourself.”

That made Ezra laugh. He rubbed his face quickly and looked up at where Luke was even though he couldn’t see him. “I love that you can just say that. ‘You don’t have to blame yourself.’” His words were filled with kindness and warmth. There was a squeeze to his shoulder and he placed his hand over the one there. 

Ezra shifted his hold on the hand, bringing both off his shoulder. He held it in his for a moment before letting it go. “Can I ask you something now?”

“Of course,” Luke answered, shifting his position. 

“Why did you try to save Vader?”

His question hung in the air. Ezra was sure it had been asked of Luke before. Maybe not by the everyday person, they probably didn’t know. But Leia and Han, they must have asked. What did Luke answer then? Had it changed now that the chaos was over? There was a bit of guilt inside Ezra for asking this, but he needed to know.

Luke sighed. A few breaths later he answered, “I knew there was good in him. I could feel it.” Ezra remembered how that felt. Finding the good in everyone. How long had it been since he had been able to do that, look at the worst of the worst and remember that light can be found anywhere? 

“So despite everything he did, I knew I could bring him back,” Luke continued. “I knew that deep down he wasn’t entirely consumed by the hate in him. He wasn’t just Vader, he was still Anakin Skywalker. Anakin cared so deeply for his family and that was still there. He could have killed me so many times but he didn’t. I might not have physically saved him but I did save him. I owed him that much, he was my father. If I had killed him, we both would have been lost to the Dark Side. I wasn’t going to let the Empire have both of us. I wasn’t going to let the Empire ruin my family anymore than it already had.”

Ezra remained silent. What could he say to that? He hated Vader. For so long he feared Vader. When he heard that Luke had killed him, he remembered how hard he hugged his family. They were all free from that shadow that had hovered over them for so long. His family was finally safe. 

“Look, I understand if that doesn’t make sense to you,” Luke said after awhile, tension radiating from him. “But it’s what--“

“I do understand,” Ezra cut him off. He reached over for Luke’s hand again. “My family brings me back, saves me, everyday. You did for your father what they do for me. I can’t say I’ll ever stop feeling how I feel about Vader, but I know you did the right thing. I have a feeling that’s what you always do.”

“Tell that to my Jedi masters,” Luke laughed, gripping the hand that held his tightly. 

“As long as you tell mine that I’m incredibly responsible.”

“Deal.” 

The two laughed, feeling a weight lift from them. Ezra grabbed for his lightsaber and, still holding Luke’s hand, stood up. He pulled the other to his feet and turned his lightsaber on. Luke was smiling at him. 

“Come on, let’s keep moving,” Ezra said, dropping the hand. He smiled before making his way through one of the tunnels. 

 

It was getting ridiculous to both of them how long they had been walking in these tunnels. Ezra was sure they had gotten utterly lost. Luke argued they were moving in the right direction. So they continued onward. Ezra began to wonder just how long they had been in the tunnels now, he’d lost track when they had stopped for their break. He wondered what Sabine was doing now. No doubt she was blaming him for his and Luke’s long disappearance (and he couldn’t really deny it being his fault.) Once they were out of this tunnel, Ezra was sure he’d never hear the end of it from her.

The sound of shouting off in the distance forced the two to refocus. Ezra holstered his lightsaber, hiding their presence in the darkness of the tunnel, and picked up the pace. At the end of the tunnel a large cavern spilled out before them, illuminated being a number of large work lights. They had reached the main area of the mining operation.

They peered down and saw a large group of people under guard, the captured miners. There were at least a few dozen men and women, each watching their captors and waiting for a chance to fight back and go home. The guards were discussing something, though from where Ezra and Luke were they couldn’t quite hear what was being said. 

The two men started to make their way around the cavern. They knew they’d have to find a way to get these people out. Ezra glanced back at Luke and saluted him, once they were opposite from the miners, a grin spreading across his face. He was met with a confused expression before he jumped down into the pit. 

“Hey! You there!” One of the stormtroopers shouted, pointing his blaster towards Ezra. 

Ezra’s grin stayed in place as he raised his hands above his head and moved forward. In the edge of his vision, he could see Luke making his way around the cavern to where the miners were. He was glad Luke picked up on the plan immediately. It would have been awkward if he faked getting captured only to actually end up being captured.

“Thank goodness I’ve found you!” Ezra called out as he moved closer to the guards. “I fell into the mines and have been wandering around for hours! I thought I was going to die down here!”

“Stop where you are! We know you’re one of those Jedi that infiltrated the base,” one of the stormtroopers shouted. He stepped forward, aiming his blaster. Now all the stormtroopers were watching the scene unfold. Behind them, Luke dropped into the group and started freeing the miners from their cuffs.

“Jedi? Aren’t those a myth?” Ezra asked, trying the put a confused look on his face. He kept walking, hands still in the air. It was starting to dawn on him that this was a stupid plan. The miners began making their way to one of the tunnel entrances.

“Don’t move!”

 

“Captain, there’s the other! He’s freeing the prisoners!”

Ezra swore and grabbed his lightsaber. Stormtroopers were running after the escaping miners as Luke started firing his stolen blaster. Ezra charged forward and Force blasted the troopers in front of him. As they landed feet away from him, he made his way to Luke. 

Miners were fighting back now, grabbing blasters from fallen soldiers. Luke was guiding those unarmed into the tunnel as he covered them. Ezra took on the defensive, deflecting blaster shots as he could. Soon all the miners were in the tunnel and the two Jedi charged after them.

“That was a horrible plan!” Luke shouted as they ran. 

“But it worked!”

The miners seemed to know where they were going as the group continued their way through the mines. Ezra was grateful for their so far successful rescue—if Luke and him hadn’t found this group, who knows how long they would have been stuck in these tunnels.

“ _\--ectre Six come in! Spectre Six!_ ” Sabine’s voice broke into the sound of them running. “ _Ezra!_ ”

“Sabine! Am I glad to hear you!” Ezra answered, relief washing over him. 

“ _Ezra, what’s going on? You’ve been missing for hours and there was fighting down at the base! Now they’re all mobilizing at the entrances to the mines._ ” Sabine shouted through the comm. Ezra knew immediately that once this mission was over, he was in for the longest lecture from Sabine, Hera, and probably Leia as well. Great. 

“Well, after I found Luke, we sort of got trapped in the mines and then freed the prisoners. We’re on our way out now,” he explained. He ducked as he ran, blaster shots were starting to come from behind them. It seemed the stormtroopers had regrouped. 

There was a sigh over the comm before Sabine spoke, “ _You’re in luck, at least. The reinforcements are here. They’re already fighting outside._ ”

As if on cue, the tunnel around them shook. They could now hear the sound of a battle being fought outside the mines. 

“ _Get outside and don’t die!_ ” 

The group kept running. They were getting to the exit, and the sounds of the fight going on outside were getting louder. Ezra was ready to get out of these mines. He was glad the miners were leading the way out, no doubt Luke and he would have just gotten them all lost. Grateful for this ordeal to be ending, Ezra wondered if he was ever going to have a calm experience underground.

After a bend in the tunnel, light illuminated everything around them. The exit was finally in sight. It was a few hundred meters away. They would be free of these mines soon. Ezra smiled as he picked up his pace, all his attention focused on their exit.

Something sharp and hot ripped through his left shoulder and he stumbled to the ground. He faintly heard Luke shout his name. He blinked and tried to clear his vision. He felt a tug from above and was pulled to his feet. 

“We have to keep moving,” Luke’s voice was right next to him but it felt miles away. An arm weaved around him and he was being helped forward. Slowly he started to become aware of what had happened. A blaster shot. He had forgotten about the stormtroopers behind them. 

They moved slowly but steadily out of the tunnels. Thankfully they had had a decent head start on the troopers behind them. They managed to make it out of the mines before they were overtaken from behind. Ezra almost smiled. He wasn’t loopy enough to ignore the fact that they had just stepped out of the mines to be completely surrounded by Imperial forces. A mix of X-wings and A-wings were fighting TIEs overhead and appeared to be winning, but here on the ground, it was still in the Empire’s favour. 

The miners were all standing with whatever blasters they had with them raised. Ezra only now realized that Luke had taken his lightsaber. They all stood still, waiting for which side would make the first move. 

“An interesting turn of events,” a voice called from behind the stormtroopers in front of them. As they spoke, the stormtroopers from the tunnels poured out. The AT-TAs were firing at the starfighters as the AT-TSs were pointed towards those who were on the ground. A man in an officer’s uniform moved forward through the stormtroopers. He looked over the group in front of him, a smirk on his face. “A valiant effort from the Rebellion. But I do believe that you are outmatched.”

The miners took a collective step forward getting ready to fight. Ezra unwrapped his arm from Luke to give him a chance to fight. He looked around the mining base and tried to come up with any possible plan for their escape. But there were troopers everywhere. There was no way he would outrun any of them. Luke wasn’t going to be able to do anything more than fight off their attackers, so that shut down being carried out. Ezra’s knees buckled slightly. It was no use. He couldn’t figure out if it was the fact there was no way out or if his injury was just fogging up his brain.

The officer continued, “The Empire may be over, I’ll admit that, but at least we will have eradicated the Jedi from the galaxy.” He laughed and raised his hand to give the order to shoot. 

Ezra looked at Luke. It was clear that there was no way out. Not for the first time, Ezra thought about how unfair it was that the Empire managed to take away so much. They had been defeated and they were still going to take more from him. He had just found Luke again and now…

An explosion went off. The AT-TSs that were about to shoot collapsed to the ground. Overhead, a Corellian freighter flew while firing on the AT-TAs. The officer yelled to fire back, but the miners were already charging. Ezra gestured at Luke to go fight as he made his way to the side of the fight. 

A blur of colour ran past him. Sabine shot at the stormtroopers behind him. Ezra leaned against of stack of crates and watched the fighting around him. As he sank to the ground, the _Ghost_ made another pass and fired at the Imperial headquarters. 

He smiled and closed his eyes. He knew his family had this. They’d wake him when it was time to go.

 

Luke found Ezra after the majority of the fighting was over. After some reassurance that they weren’t needed for clean up and that Luke had indeed gone and found his lightsaber again, Ezra let Luke and Sabine helped him get on the _Ghost_. Sabine yelled at him the whole way to the ship and only stopped when he hugged her in the loading bay. Leia came and ushered Sabine away to report to the rest of the rebel fleet. 

Zeb and Kanan helped get Ezra to the common area, Luke following behind. After offering to dress the wound, Luke was left alone with the injured Jedi.

Trying to contain his movements to avoid aggravating his shoulder more, Ezra managed to shrug off his jacket and pull his shirt off as Luke grabbed the medical kit. Ezra scooted over on the couch, letting him sit on his left. As he pulled out the supplies needed, Ezra watched him. It was nice to have another moment alone with the man, especially now that they weren’t stuck in a cave or getting ready for a fight. He felt grateful for this. 

Luke began to examine the wound. Ezra only just noticed now how much blood there was. He sighed and wished it had been a cleaner blaster shot. Luke began his work cleaning the wound, picking out bits of fabric that had gotten stuck in the bloody area. Ezra stayed still the whole process. When Luke was done dressing the wound, he pulled out a sling and placed it on the table with an apologetic look. Ezra sighed a bit; healing was a tiring process. He was going to get bored. 

Luke reached down and grabbed the ruined shirt on the ground. He grimaced at it before holding it out. Ezra took Luke’s hand in his right one and leaned in close to Luke’s face.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling at him. 

His answer was a gulp as Luke moved away. He dropped the shirt in Ezra’s lap and started to clean up the medpac. Ezra leaned on the table and watched him, a smile spreading on his face. Luke would look back periodically as he cleaned up. Once done, he sat back down on the couch, further away than previously.

“So what’s next for you?” he asked Ezra, avoiding eye contact.

“What do you mean, for me?”

“I mean, where are you guys off to, the _Ghost_ crew?” Luke explained quickly, poking at the couch between them. “Not you, specifically. The collective you. Are you sticking around, or…” 

Ezra tried to keep from smiling more. He moved an inch closer and looked out over the room. “Honestly, I have no clue what Hera and Kanan are planning. I know we’ll be at the base while Hera finishes up some work but after that, I assume we’ll be on our way. I go where they go.”

Luke nodded, his eyes still moving around the room. “That makes sense,” he said, “they are your family.”

“Though, I hope we do stick around for awhile. I’m not sure I’m ready to leave the people there behind yet,” Ezra said. He reached over and rested his hand on Luke’s arm.

He looked over at Ezra finally, eyes completely serious. “Good.”

Smiling, Ezra moved closer again. His knee was pressing against Luke’s now. His hand moved up the arm it was on before making its way to his face. Ezra’s fingers curled slightly, burying into the blond hair. Blue eyes met blue, and he started to lean in. A warm wave of energy surged through Ezra as his eyes began to drift closed. He could now feel Luke’s breath as it escaped in bursts.

The sudden crash of Chopper charging into the room pulled the two away from each other quickly, a moment away from the touch they wanted. Ezra groaned and looked at the droid.

“What,” he demanded, “is going on?”

He was met with a furious stream of beeps and bwaps from the old droid. R2-D2 then came barrelling in, screeching. Luke began to laugh, patting Ezra’s leg. 

“Our droids don’t get along,” he said through the laughter. 

“Nothing gets along with Chopper,” Ezra grumbled. Chopper came over to Luke and started hitting his leg, making the man laugh harder. Ezra shouted in protest and made to get up, before wincing. “Chopper, lay off!” 

R2 bumped into the orange and white droid before shooting off to the door again. Chopper shrieked and followed the other droid out. 

There was a moment’s silence in the room before laughter took over Luke again. Ezra sighed, and started to pull his shirt on. Luke calmed down enough to help and then placed the sling on gently. Once that was done, the two men stared at each other before laughing together.

They made their way out of the room, Luke in the lead. Ezra watched him as the made their way to the cockpit to start giving their reports to Leia. Despite the pain in his shoulder (that was starting to leave now), he felt good. He was happy and his loved ones, old and new, were safe. He could see a future again. It was bright. Bright like the face smiling back at him, inviting him to follow into the light the future could hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did it, folks! We got to the end of this little story. Sorry it took longer to post it all, life happened. But it's all here and now you know not to trust me when I promise how long it'll take for a fic to come out.
> 
> I want to thank my two friends who helped me work through this fic. They helped with the editing and planning and just all around listening to me talk about these two dumb Jedi and how they should kiss. Even if I didn't write that.
> 
> And thank you guys for reading this. I'm really proud of how it turned out after all the work that got put into it. I'm glad you let me share this with you all.
> 
> Thank you.


End file.
